In electrical wire or cable stringing applications, such as situations where wire is pulled through conduit by a cable or line at a desired and controlled rate, there is a need for the pulling cable or line to be supported under tension by use of some form of a cable support device such as a drum or spool. In cable laying operations the heavy electrical or mechanical cable to be pulled under tension through support conduits, is in conventional practice hooked up to some kind of `fish wire` or `pulling line` attached to the leading end of the cable and then the pulling line pulls the heavy cable through the conduit until it is in the desired position. The pulling action is generally accomplished through a cable support drum or spool which is capable of being rotated. The drum provides an anchoring surface on which the pulling line may be wound so as to utilize the rotational motion of the drum toward imparting pulling action on the cable. Under such conditions, forces are generated which accumulate and tend to collapse the drum or spool onto which the pulling line is being wound. Such collapsing generally occurs as a result of the cumulative effects of tension generated during the pulling action. One such effect is the direct result of the cable being under tension while it is actually being pulled by the pulling line. Another affecting factor is the force existing due to the weight of the cable itself, which can amount to a significant value depending upon the particular cable winding application. The weight of the cable adds considerably to the operating tension particularly when the pulling line is working at lifting heavy cable through large distances in vertical conduits, against gravitational forces. Since the surface of the drum onto which the pulling line is wound is the effective fulcrum of support, it is subjected to all the accumulated forces resulting from the tension generated as the pulling line is progressively wound or unwound around the support drum. Such accumulated forces of tension tend to collapse the drum or spool during the cable pulling operation. This collapsing effect of the tensioning forces is compounded when the cable pulling operation requires intermittent `pulling` and `braking` actions of the pulling line, which frequently is the case. In the past, this problem has been solved, among other ways, by the use of winding drums or spools made of heavy duty material capable of withstanding the compressive forces generated during high tension winding. Such solutions entail increased cost for the stronger drum materials as well as related cost and inconvenience in handling the significantly increased weight of the stronger drums.